Last years book haul….
Tag: crime writing festivals
Harrogate countdown
It’s been two years (to the day) since my Harrogate proposal at the end of Steve Mosby’s panel in 2014, so that must mean we are into the final few days of this years countdown….
Time to get excited.
CSI Southampton – October 24th
Don’t worry crime fans, the festival season isn’t over yet!
CSI Southampton drops in next month and looks like a fantastic one day event for all enthusiasts of the genre. Well priced with some big names this looks like a brilliant way of ensuring your Autumn crime fiction fix.
As part of Southampton’s So To Speak Festival, here’s what they have to say about the event….
Where:- Northguild Lecture Theatre, Central Library, Civic Centre, S014 7LW
When:- Sat 24th October 10:00am – 5.00pm
Price: £18.00 (including £4 reduction in the price of a book) plus booking fee
Join us for CSI Southampton where the cream of crime fiction writers meet real life crime experts. The morning session kicks off with a panel where crime authors Pauline Rowson and Natasha Cooper will be debating with crime scene experts from Hampshire Police, Carolyn Lovell and Jane Aston just how crime fiction differs from crime fact. There will also be the chance for you to ask your questions of the panel and to have your fingerprints taken!
In the afternoon Peter Lovesey will discuss how a decent law abiding man can think up 200 ways of murdering people, followed by Jessie Keane and Sue Wilkins in discussion with Penny Legg on how they create their crime novels. There’ll be book signings and the chance to mingle with both crime authors and crime experts.
Closing Soon – Deal Noir Flash Fiction Competition
Create a crime novel in just 100 words for the chance to win a signed copy of the latest novel from one of the distinguished authors appearing at Deal Noir.
The winner will be announced at the Deal Noir Conference on 28th March 2015.
The Rules
The closing date for entries is 20th March 2015. Only one entry per person. Submissions must be publishable and written in English. The decision of the judges is final.
Submit your entries on the Deal Noir website.
Deal Noir takes place at The Landmark Centre, Deal on 28th March. Tickets are available here.
ShetlandNoir – Coming in 2015
Iceland Noir takes a break in 2015, and moves over to Shetland for the year.
Shetland Arts and Promote Shetland are delighted to announce that Shetland Noir, in association with Iceland Noir, will take place at Mareel from Friday 13 November until Sunday 15 November 2015.
The Crime Fiction Festival will be the first of its kind ever to be held in Shetland and the headliners will be: Denise Mina, Stuart MacBride and Alex Gray from Scotland, and Arne Dahl, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Hakan Nesser, representing the Nordic countries. Further writers will be announced in 2015.
The festival will be centred in Mareel, and a festival ticket, on sale now via Shetland Box Office, will ensure access to all of the panel events, and to a choice of fringe activities which will include specialist bus tours and other activities, to be announced in 2015. Further information about Shetland Noir, in association with Iceland Noir, is available on the festival website www.shetlandnoir.com and festival tickets can be purchased from Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, and online at mareel.org and shetlandboxoffice.org.
Where you’ll find me this weekend
Taking Place from the 15th – 18th May at the Marriott Royal Hotel, Bristol, UK.
With a whopping 50+ events (be prepared to make some tough decisions over what you attend) scheduled over the four days, it’s an action packed four days with plenty of time for author interaction.
It’s where I will be from Friday morning, until Sunday lunchtime. If you are heading there come look me up, if I’m not in a panel you’ll most probably find me in the bar. I’ll be the one in the hat. Come say hello.
It’s Dark & Stormy Down in Brighton
Coming hot on the heels of CrimeFest and making sure you’ll be in the mood for Crime Story, it’s shaping up to be an A-May-zing May, with a second new Crime festival being announced in the last week, making for three weekends packed with all your crime fiction favourites.
Being launched as part of the larger Brighton Festival which runs from the 3rd to the 25th May, the Dark & Stormy Festival runs over three days from the 23rd to the 25th, and aims to bring you the best of all things crime related.
Dark & Stormy is a brand new UK crime festival, serving up a wicked selection of book, film, music & theatre events. We launch in May 2014, in partnership with Brighton Festival, Brighton Fringe, and Dukes at Komedia, to celebrate and promote this massively popular genre, bringing its fans, creators and stars together for one criminally good and unforgettable weekend.
Our aim is to appeal, not only to the legions of readers who keep crime writers at the top of the international bestseller lists, but also to the huge audiences who flock to watch The Killing and Breaking Bad on TV, Kick Ass and James Bond at the cinema, Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto on their PlayStations, and The Perfect Murder and Emil and the Detectives in the West End.
Sounds like another fantastic opportunity to celebrate crime fiction. So, grab your diaries and blot out this and the following weekends because there’s an unbelievable amount of criminal activity to be shared in.
CrimeFest – May 15th – 18th
Dark and Stormy – May 23rd – 25th
and
Crime Story – May 31st – June 1st.
New Festival! Welcome to the calendar Crime Story
Not content with announcing a fabulous competition for aspiring Northern crime writers last week, New Writing North in conjunction with Northumbria University has just launched CrimeStory, a new crime fiction festival to run at their campus in the heart of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
CrimeStory will run over the weekend of Saturday 31st May & Sunday 1st June 2014, and in the manner of all the best crime fiction, it comes with a delicious twist on the usual festival idea.
The weekend will focus on a fictional murder that we’ve commissioned from best-selling crime novelist Ann Cleeves in which a woman finds her foster-son dead in a locked room, a blood-splattered picture of an enigmatic woman on the wall and the dubious landlord nowhere to be found. The killer? Well, that’s up to the Crime Story participants
Crime Story will take place on 31 May-1 June and a host of top crime writers, criminologists, lawyers, police and forensics experts will walk attendees through the investigation, trial and punishment of the crime. There will be opportunities to participate in the digital autopsy of a computer, find out about ‘life inside’ from Guardian columnist Erwin James or listen to novelist Louise Welsh talking to former Observer crime fiction critic Peter Guttridge.
If it shapes up to be as interactive as it sounds, it will certainly be a welcome addition to the crime calendar.
“In Crime Story writers will have the chance to find out from experts and practitioners how the criminal justice system really works. A young man has been found dead in his flat. What happens next is down to the authors, academics and forensic scientists who’ll be exploring the scene. CRIME STORY will be great opportunity for the writers of crime fiction to meet the experts who work in and research this field.”
– Ann Cleeves
Early Bird booking rates of £99 for adults, with a £10 discount for students are available until the 14th March. You can book your tickets here
Life of Cri.me 